SAN MARCOS, Texas - Following a 55-52 victory at South Alabama on Wednesday, Texas State enters its final game of the season having already clinched the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship for the second year in a row. The Bobcats are the first team to win back-to-back Sun Belt regular season titles since Georgia State in 2013-14.
The Bobcats arrive in Troy on an eight-game winning streak, which is tied for their longest this season. They came back to beat South Alabama to extend the streak, with the help of a three-pointer by
Caleb Asberry in the final 30 seconds to provide the decisive margin of victory.
Texas State is aiming for a 12-win conference season, which would make it four years in a row the Bobcats have strung together a dozen Sun Belt victories. The Bobcats are already the first Sun Belt team with four straight years of 11+ conference wins since Georgia State did it from 2016-17 to 2019-20.
The game can be seen on ESPN2 at 8 pm CT. It can also be heard on the Varsity Sports Network, with
Clint Shields on the call. The pregame show with Shields will start at 7:30 pm.
SERIES HISTORY: VS. TROY
Texas State and Troy will be meeting for the 14th time as the Bobcats hold the series advantage, 8-5. However, Troy has won the last two meetings and three of the last five.
Texas State's last win in the series was at Troy on February 28, 2019. The Bobcats topped the Trojans 58-44, which was their 23rd regular season victory that year. It set a school record for regular season wins in the Division I era.
This year marks the first time since the 2016-17 campaign that Texas State and Troy will face each other more than once in the same season. The Bobcats won both regular season games that year before falling to Troy in the conference tournament.
The Bobcats have won the last two meetings in Troy, including the 2019 matchup and then on January 16, 2017. Overall, Texas State is 3-2 at Troy.
CHAMPIONSHIP FEELING
Nine seasons after joining the conference, Texas State has won back-to-back Sun Belt regular season conference championships, making it the first back-to-back regular season champ since Georgia State did it in 2014-15.
Texas State is the fourth different school to win consecutive Sun Belt conference this century as it has happened five times since 2000.
Repeat Sun Belt Regular Season Champs
School Years
Texas State - 2021-2022
Georgia State - 2014-2015
Middle Tennessee - 2012-2013
Western Kentucky - 2008-2009
Western Kentucky - 2001-2003
AT THE TOP OF THE TABLE
While Texas State already wrapped up the regular season title, it is also the fifth time in the last six years the Bobcats have finished in the top-three of the conference standings.
In other words, in nine years in the conference, Texas State has finished top-three more than half the time (55%).
Texas State has also now finished first or second in the conference standings four years in a row, going 48-19 (.716). The Bobcats have the best Sun Belt record since the 2018-19 season, ahead of Georgia State (41-22, .650).
Texas State has more conference wins in the last four years (48) than it did in the seven years prior across the Sun Belt and Southland (47).
TALKING ABOUT 20
Texas State has also already clinched a 20-win season, its third in the last four years.
The Bobcats' 83 wins since the 2018-19 season are the most victories over a four-year stretch in program history since 1978-81. Over that span, Texas State won 85 games as a member of the Lone Star Conference.
This is also the first time Texas State has posted four straight winning seasons since it do so in seven straight campaigns from 1977-78 to 1983-84.
WHAT'S AHEAD
Texas State has already clinched a spot in the 11:30 am game on Saturday, March 5 at the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship in Pensacola, Fla. The Bobcats will play the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed game on Thursday.
